5 Myths About Composting: Confessions From a Reluctant Composter

I’ve been an avid gardener for the last 10 years or so and one who’s willing to try most plants—some fated to an untimely death in my harsh growing zone (2-3)—but as I mentioned above, I’ve dragged my feet on composting. Oh, I’ve tried several times and even bought a black, plastic composter that I ended up giving away. I pretty much gave up on composting until last fall as I was prepping my beds for spring, and I, on a whim, decided to check out the pile in our woods where we’d been dumping garden waste, chicken waste, and occasionally some kitchen waste. I was amazed at the soil I found: light, beautiful, and sweet smelling.

Maybe I’m describing your attitude towards composting in describing my former attitude. You know that compost is the bomb, so to speak, but you’re not exactly sure what you’re supposed to do. And so you drag your feet, guiltily tossing kitchen scraps into the garbage while knowing that you could be composting them, but you don’t have a special compost bucket, or a special bin, or a this, or a that. And yet…

So this post is for you, the reluctant composter, the one who believes in composting but isn’t quite sure where to start or what to do. Of course, I’m basing this entirely off my own experience, and so feel free to take it with a grain of salt. But I promise you, the myths I outline below are most definitely myths and ones that need not hinder your composting efforts any longer.

Myth 1 // Composting is hard.

Myth 2 // Composting is smelly.

Myth 3 // Composting requires a lot of maintenance.

Myth 4 // Composting requires "special" tools.

Myth 5 // I can buy the same product at the home improvement store.

The blog post covers each myth in detail, what I've found to be true, and a basic composting method at the end of the post.

To glorious spring, friends!

Queen P (aka Rachel)